What essential items do you keep in your car?

[supercee]

I've just got my first car at the age of 39!

What essential items do you keep in it? Or anything you find useful? Or non-essential but you think are handy?

So far I only have a usb cable to plug my phone in. I'm thinking de-icer? What else?

A riveting Saturday night thread...!

Torch
Pooh bag supply, spare lead, water bowl.
Swimming stuff.
Hand gel.
Masks
Umbrella
Pen and paper
£10 note
Spare glasses

Decent first aid kit.

Wellies, a blanket, scraper for ice.

French car kits are full of sensible things for emergencies, eg warning signs and spare light bulbs. We leave it in the car all the time.

If you have kids, an old ice cream tub with a lid incase someone suddenly feels carsick on the motorway.

Sanitizer and a few spare masks in a sealed bag.

Make up kit
Deicer

Tissues.
A face covering (recent addition).

Salt and ketchup from McDonald’s
Probably some napkins somewhere...
There’s definitely a first aid kit and red triangle and high vis jackets in the boot from previous trips to France (remember those days when we were allowed to go to other places?!).
Other than that, sod all useful! I’m not a very practical person.

Facemasks
£10
Pound coins
Lip balm

High vis vest.
Triangle
Some basic first aid
De ice
Scraper
Cds
A car bin
Some of those sheewee bag things just in case
Large brolly
2 spare old bellies son I can give them to other people if caught short
My own waterproof
A spare old waterproof
2 blankets
An old but clean towel
My shopping bags

I have the blankets after being snowed in on the motorway one year. And 2 because I was parked up next to a woman with a baby who had nothing!!
The towel is because I was first on scene to an accident once and the poor lady were herself in shock and needed one to sit on
Then the waterproofs after my mate broke down in the pouring rain with nothing and bought an awful chill. I'm super happy to stop if I see someone in similar situation and leave all these items if it helps. Pay it forward and all that.

Oh and spare face masks and trolley token.

A can of pop.
Packet of biscuits.
Phone charger.
Kettle.
Lint roller.
Coat.
Hairbrush.

A big bottle of water in the boot of the car for emergencies.
A carrier bag lines with kitchen towel in case of travel sickness.
A packet of gum/mints.
Pen and post it notes.
Cheap pair of sunglasses for when the sun unexpectedly comes out and you can’t see.
Tissues.

Tampax
Clean pants
Hand wash

Some great suggestions. Trolley tokens, tissues especially, my mother always has these, should've thought of them.

I'm child-free and my car is small so luckily that cancels out a few space-taking items.

First aid kit
Blanket
Bottled water
Snacks
Sponge thing for windscreen
Screen wash
Ice scraper
Jacket
Pair of trainers
Umbrella
Loose change for parking
Pen and paper
Sunglasses
Box of tissues
Wet wipes

Since wfh I'm not driving my 50 miles round trip to work 4 days a week, and just using the car for short trips to the supermarket m school run on bad weather, so currently just tissues, pound coins for trolleys, couple of disposible face masks in a ziploc bag when I forget my reusable mask, and a few bags for life.
Prior to this/if going on a long journey would also have de-icer/ scaler, torch, first aid kit, spare change for car parking, baby wipes, nappy bag to use as an on the go bin, phone charing wire, usually had a brolly and an old thick cardi too for emergencies

Scraper not a scaler!

Spare glasses / contact lenses / lens solution
Sunglasses that stay in the car
Bottles of water
USB charger
Cash tucked away in glove compartment - about £40 for emergency fuel and pound coins for trollies/parking
Couple of cereal bars
Umbrella
Warm coat, hat, gloves and boots
Blanket
De-icer, screen wash, scraper
Kitchen roll
Face masks at the moment (1 per family member)
Hand cream
Hair brush and bobbles
Tampax
Spare pair of natural tights

I drive a lot for work in normal times and try to be prepared for all sorts.

Copy of insurance and breakdown policies.
A plastic backed picnic blanket.
A bottle of water, which I never use even if desperate because it's for emergencies.
Coins for car parking.
As well as most of the stuff already mentioned.

Bags for the supermarket although I always forget to actually take them in

Torch
First aid kit
Winter car kit (has snow shovel, high vis vest etc)
Dustpan and brush after being caught one year and needing to get snow off car
Large umbrella (godsend after an accident in pissing rain)
Tyre pump
Bottle of water
Blankets
Gloves and waterproof coat thing
Ice scrapers
Sunglasses
Microfibre cloth for windows

USB cables
Satnav (for when car is being an arse and built in version won't work)
Bottle of water
Porta-potty from when ds was a toddler 15 years ago! It might be useful one day in an emergency...

A pair of heals. Sounds daft but actually used to come in handy when going for last min drinks etc

Wet wipes, hand sanitiser, scraper (de over will destroy your windscreen over time better to just scrape), a demisting cloth, pen, sunglasses (I needed mine today as the sun was really low), spare masks. In the boot I have socks, a waterproof jacket and old hiking boots in case I have to abandon the car in bad weather.

The only thing I keep in my car is de-icer and a scraper. And in there Covid times, a few masks. But I empty the car every time I come home, so there is pretty much nothing in it.

Definitely extra masks
Hand sanitiser
Pen
Sunglasses
Waterproof coat
First aid kit
Blanket
Umbrella